Hemstitching attachment



29 we ca NE MM MOM HEMSTITCHING ATTACHMENT Filed May 29, 1931 @JEBf/GGS,

Patented Aug. 11, 1931 entree stares- PATENT orrice ALBERT BLAKE BRIGGS AND SARAH BR QIGGS, OF SPRINGFIELD, BEASSAGHUSETTS, ASSIG-NORS TO THE EERFEQT HEIQIS'EI'ECHEB DIANUFACTURING (30., 1370., OF SPRING- FIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A 'conroRATIoiv or ivmssaonusnrrs i HEMSTITCHING ATTACHMENT Application filed May'29, 133.1,.

may be sewed together by slack stitches, thereby to separate such pieces of cloth a distance equal to the length of such slack stitches, and, after suitably folding and securing the edge portions of such pieces of cloth, producing a simulated hemstitch, or other ornamental The device is so constructed that it may be readily slipped over and rigidly held in place on the presser foot of any sewing machine.

Among the objects of the invention is the provision of a hemstitching attachment which will insure an accurate and even feed or the work and which is adapted to, produce a line or coarse stitching. I

This invention contemplates the provision of a device which will not only fit any family sewing machine but will hem stitch any width over a normal range of from g to using any kind of thread and providing a guide for the material.

l/Vith such an attachment not only hemstitching but picoting may be produced on anyshape of material, curved, or straight, etc; it may be used to produce the French loop trimming, to hemstiteh lace onto any kind of material, to hemstitch and gather at the same time, or may be used as a gatherer in plain sewing. By use of heavy thread from, the spool of cotton on top of the ma chine beautiful tagoting may be formed.

To the accomplishment of these and other objects, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention contemplates the use of a piece of sheet metal folded, bent and slotted to form a worksengaging section, a guide section and a portion by means of which the device is slipped over one toe of the con ventional presser foot, and into engagement with the other toe, the metal from which the device is made being sufficiently resilient to hold same firmly in place. If desired, the device may be built integral with the presser er al; No. 540,991.

foot of the machine,;although the. preferred form comprises an attachment.

A Preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. I is a perspective of the presser foot and needle bar of the sewing machine. with the attachment in place above the feed dogs and throat plate.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the attachment itself.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the device inposition on the'presser foot.

Fig. 4 is a top planet the attachment.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the attach r ent.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4 and p F ig. 7 is a-plan of a workpiece formed by use of the attachment Referring more specifically to the drawings in which like. reference numerals refer to like parts,it willbe observed that the sewing machine 10; has aneedle bar 11 and a needle 12, thereon. The presser'ba-r 13 isprovided with a t 'oot 1 4. which may be attached at 15v in a conventional manner. The presser foot 1 1 is slotted to provide a pair of toes or prongs, one of which. 16, is usuallyextended beyond the other. The presser foot is positioned above the throatvplate 17 and the feed dogs 18.

The parts just described are conventional in any domestic sewing machine and form no part of the present invention.

The attachment indicated generally at 20 comprises a sheet of metal having a portion forming a work engaging or feed; surface 21 which is slotted at-22. The metal is bent back upon itself to provide a lamination 23, which is slotted at 24, the slot 2% being substantially coincident with the slot 22. At one-end ofthe slot 24 thelamination 23 is bent upwardly to provide a ply spacer or abutment 25, The slot 24 is relatively wide until 1 above 1112111118318 illustrated,

ation of slot 24: will be somewhat narrower where it passes through the abutment. The metal is bent around to provide a lamination 26 spaced from the portion 23 and providing a guide for the edge of the work. The spacin g between the laminations 23 and 2G is sufficiently great to prevent passage therebetween of paper, velvet or the like. This lamination 26 is cut away to leave only a strip at one end of the attachment, which strip is curled around as indicated at 27 to form a loop for attaching the device to the presser foot, the loop being suitably disposed at an angle to the main body of the attachment.

In the use of the device, the machine being provided with a sharp and rather coarse needle threaded in the usual way, the loop 27 is slipped over the prong or toe 16 of the presser foot with the other prong of the presser foot resting on top of the lamination 26, and the needle 12 is centered in the slots 22 and 24. The attachment should sit level with the throat plate and feed. It is immaterial whether the prongs of the presser foot are of equal or unequal lengths, as one prong will engage the loop and another prong will come against the angular portion. After attaching the hemstitcher, the upper tension of the machine is adjusted in accordance with the width of hemstitching desired. One piece of work material 28 is then placed under the hemstitcher just as though it were to be conventionally stitched and the presser foot with the hemstitcher is lowered thereon. A second piece of material 29 is then placed through the open space in the attachment, that is between the laminations 23 and 26 with the right sides of the work facing each other. The two pieces may then be hemstitched together in the manner that a plain seam is sewed, the attachment holding the two pieces apart and keeping the thread straight and even. In removing the work, the end of the seam neXt to the presser foot is grasped firmly, holding the thread so as to keep the shuttle thread from pulling out and to prevent the top thread from drawing the hemstitching together, whereupon the finished work may be pulled away from the device a sufficient distance to permit cutting of the thread. After this is done the hemstitcher may be removed and the tension of the machine adjusted for ordinary sewing and the seam may be stitched open on both sides, the stitching being close to the edge of the hemstitching, to sew the hemstitching thread into the goods.

In Fig. 7 a piece of work formed in the the slack threads of the hemstitching being illustrated at 30 and the finished stitching being at 31. Variations in the type of work will be found in the French loops 32, in the picot loops 33 and in the severed loops providing tufts 3%. The

picoting or other work is accomplished in the same manner as the hemstitching but with a tension in the machine not quite so loose as the tension used for hemstitching. In pieoting, the lower work piece is removed by pulling out the shuttle thread after the loops have been formed, whereupon the upper material will be left with a beautiful picot edge. The French loops may be formed by using paper in lieu of the upper ply of material, which paper is subsequently removed fro-m the thread loops. Many other variations in the type of work may be accomplished by the use of this attachment. The gathering function is possible by virtue of structure which separates the plies of work so that more material may be fed, in one ply, than in the other.

It will be evident that the bottom lamination 21 1na be omitted, if desired. preferable, however, that this bottom lamination be used as it acts to prevent the work from being drawn up into the under side of the abutment 25. It will be evident from Fig. 6 that the slot 22 is narrower than the space beneath the abutment 25.

Having thus described our invention what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An attachment for sewing machines having a. presser foot, comprising a body member formed with a ply spacer thereon, and a thread slot extending from said spacer along the normal line of feed of the work, a work guide adjacent said slot and a loop portion located in a plane above said spacer and connected to said guide and shaped to it a prong of said presser foot.

2. An attachment for sewing machines having a presser foot, comprising a body member formed with a ply spacer thereon, and a thread slot in advance of said ply spacer, a work guide adjacent said slot and a loop portion connected to said guide and shaped to fit a prong of said presser foot, the upper surface of said guide having a cam surface engageable with another prong of said presser foot.

3. An attachment for sewing machines comprising a sheet of metal bent to form a flat work engaging portion, a ply spacer thereabove, a work guide ad acent said ply spacer and extending along the normal line of travel of the work and a loop portion above the ply spacer, said work engaging portion and said ply spacing portion being cut to provide a thread slot.

4. A hemstitching attachment for sewing machines comprising a body member having flat nndersurface and a ply space there above, said body member having an upstanding projection looped to engage the presser foot of a sewing machine and located in a plane above said spacer, and a needle slot in substantial alinement with said spacer.

5. A hemstitching device adapted to be attached to a presser foot of a sewing machine comprising a. flat plate having a. slot extending for a portion of a length of the plate and longitudinally of the work feeding means of the machine, an abutment at one end of said slot for spacing one ply of the work from another, said plate being provided with a work guiding portion extending substantially parallel to the needle slot and along an edge of the plate and said guiding portion having an angularly disposed loop extending thereabove shaped to fit a prong of the presser foot.

6. An attachment for the presser foot of a sewing machine effective to so convert said machine as to form ornamental stitching, comprising a sheet of metal bent to form a laminated body, a. lower lamination thereof being flat to engage one ply of the work, an intermediate lamination thereof having an upstruck portion to space a second ply of the work from the first ply, and an upper lamination being spaced from the intermediate lamination to provide a guide for said upper ply, said upper lamination being further provided with means to attach said device to the presser foot.

7. In a sewing machine, a presser foot having prongs, a body member extending from one of said prongs and having a slot substantially coincident with the space between the prongs, said body member having a flat work engaging undersurface, an abutment on the upper surface and a ply guide adjacent said abutment, substantially parallel to said slot.

8. An attachment for sewing machines comprising a laminated body, a lower lamination thereof being flat to engage one ply of the work, an intermediate lamination thereof having an upstruck portion to space a second ply of the work from the first ply, and an upper lamination spaced from the intermediate lamination to provide a guide for the upper ply, said upper and intermediate laminations being sufficiently spaced to permit passage of a heavy ply of work therebetween, and said upper lamination being further provided with a cam portion for engagement with a prong of the presser foot of the machine.

9. A hemstitching device adapted to be ttached to a presser foot of a sewing machine comprising a. work engaging member having a slot extending for a portion of its length and longitudinally of the work feeding means of the machine, ply spacing means on said member and work guiding means located on said member in substantially parallel relation to said slot.

10. An attachment for a sewing machine having a presser member, comprising a body member formed with a thread slot, a work guide adjacent said slot, a loop portion connected to said guide and located in a plane above the body member and shaped to fit a prong of said presser member, said loop portion being positioned on said body member to locate the body member on the presser upper cam surface engageable with another prong of said presser member, said loop portion being positioned on said body member to locate the body member on the presser member with the slot extending along the line of feed of the work.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

A. BLAKE BRIGGS. SARAH E. BRIGGS. 

